Silverstreak – VG247http://www.vg247.com
VG247.comFri, 09 Dec 2016 21:47:52 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.3Cliff Bleszinski’s new project to be revealed this week [UPDATE]http://www.vg247.com/2015/08/24/cliff-bleszinskis-new-project-to-be-revealed-this-week/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/08/24/cliff-bleszinskis-new-project-to-be-revealed-this-week/#respondSun, 23 Aug 2015 23:35:30 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=543944Boss Key Productions will lift the lid on what it’s been working on this week, according to a tease from publisher Nexon.

Update:

Boss Key has released two trailers: one shows concept art, and the other according to PCgamesN is “largely the same” as what was shown at PAX East earlier this year. Both are below.

Original Story

Nexon has opened a teaser website for something from Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski, with multiple reveal events scheduled this week ahead of something major to which the site is counting down.

We know whatever is being revealed is related to Boss Key, thanks to a forum post by community manager Rohan Rivas.

What we don’t know is what that is. Nexon is teasing the reveal events with the tagline “prepare for shattering”, the website is called “The Shattering”, and Rivas said “there’s going to be a lot of ‘information’ revealed about The Shattering”, but Bleszinski said on Twitter that this isn’t the title of his new game.

So if “The Shattering” is the subject of the reveal, but “The Shattering” isn’t the title of a game, what on earth is Nexon going to show us? The game’s lore? A suite of community tools? The actual game after all but this is some amazing cross-communication?

The codename “Silverstreak” was thrown around a lot prior to Bluestreak’s first reveal, but we don’t know if this relates to the same project.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/08/24/cliff-bleszinskis-new-project-to-be-revealed-this-week/feed/0Bluestreak players will be able to “take down the trust fund kid”http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/10/bluestreak-cliff-bleszinski-boss-key-productions-ama/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/10/bluestreak-cliff-bleszinski-boss-key-productions-ama/#commentsThu, 10 Jul 2014 00:39:33 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=482211Cliff Bleszinski has sworn that his free-to-play shooter won’t be “pay to win”, with skilled players reverenced for their “godlike abilities”.

The Gears of War creator was asked whether BlueStreak would have microtransactions in a Reddit AMA, and said that at this stage, he doesn’t yet know.

“Free to Play is one of those genres that means something entirely different depending on the game. For every model that feels like Las Vegas methods (Zynga, Candy Crush) there’s folks who do it right, like League of Legends, or WarFrame,” he said.

“I’ve never shipped a Free to Play game before. That’s one of the MANY reasons why we’re going with Nexon [America], they can provide server structures and a global peek into gamers of all types and guide us into a game that’s more ‘Shut up and take my money’ as opposed to ‘shaking you down for your hard earned cash.’

“So we’ll experiment, tweak, tune, and most importantly, build a positive community around the game as we develop it.”

Bleszinski said he was attracted to free-to-play because “anyone can just jump in and play your darned game”, but that he’s determined to avoiud a “pay to win scenario”.

“Since this game is a shooter I want that one player who likes the game and doesn’t feel like spending any money to be able to take down the trust fund kid that’s spent a ton of money to have All The Stuff,” he said.

“I want to make a skill based game whereas someone who is really, really good is seen as a player with nearly godlike abilities. Sure, once in a while the person who sucks might get lucky with a stray shot and take that person down, but I want to craft a game that has weapons and moves that are easy to learn but to really make them sing takes thousands of hours of play just like a professional athlete would. Anyone can toss a football, but Drew Brees can get it through the tire at X yards every time.”

What is Bluestreak?

Bleszinski had plenty to say about the game itself, too. Development will focus on keyboard and mouse controls, but may support controllers if the demand is there – likewise, BlueStreak may come to other platforms one day, but for now, “PC is where the comments generally are, the community gathers, and it’s got that big global audience”.

The aesthetic has not been locked down, with Bleszinski commenting that he loves the look of Mirror’s Edge, and is “pretty much over the dark and gritty stuff”. He won’t go cel-shaded, though.

“I now believe there’s a direct correlation between how good your game is and how many unique Youtube Videos it can yield. The YouTubers have taken over, folks!”

The project’s codename is the name of Bleszinski’s first transformer, and is temporary – unrelated to the lore. “Part of the pitch for the game is “‘The Warriors’ by way of Christopher Nolan,'” Bleszinski said.

Speaking of lore, story will be emphasised, “but not in the traditional sense”.

“Weapons will have manufacturing corporations, players will have lore/history, and the world will feel there and lived in. We also want to make live action shorts quarterly to help tell more about the universe outside of the game,” Bleszinski said.

“If you’re doing a Sci Fi IP you need as much of the fiction to come through in other mediums (and with lore) so people care about Plasma Rifle 3 or Player X.”

As for why he’s gone down the multiplayer-only route, spending time away from development put Bleszinski off scripted games, which he feels don’t produce “amazing competitive matches, or fantastic things the users have built themselves, or even a crazy physics bug that was caught on a live stream”, which are then turned into YouTube videos.

“I now believe there’s a direct correlation between how good your game is and how many unique Youtube Videos it can yield. The YouTubers have taken over, folks!” he said.

The veteran developer said he doesn’t “want to go full on Serious Sam, or make the weapons too crazy like Ratchet and Clank”, and suggested the film District 9 is a good starting point. That said, he pointed out that he “gave the world the Shock Combo and the Chainsaw gun”, so might have a few more tricks up his sleeves.

Bleszinski feels there’s “still plenty to be done” in the shooter space including “environmental manipulation, weaponry, and player movement”, saying Titanfall began to tap into some of this unexplored potential and hinting that leading targets might be important to play.

Bleszinski also believes first-person is a better bet than third-person for shooters because there are players who enjoy both, and players who only like first-person, but none who only like third-person. “Plus, I miss the ‘down the barrel’ view and the flow of first person,” he added.

Bosskey

Building on a discussion of what engine Bluestreak will be built on, Bleszinski commented on the costs of founding a new studio.

“As I build my team I need to take into account each department, engineering, art, level design, online, and of course, cost. Being a lean startup we’ve got to keep an eye on our burn rate and expenses,” he said.

“There are thousands of developers out there working on established AAA game franchises that would love to come to a team where they can actually make an impact instead of being crushed under the cycle of the Big E3 Sequel reveal and inevitable annualization.”

Boss Key currently employs “about a dozen” people, Bleszinski said, including former Epic and Ubisoft staffers as well as ex-Call of Duty developers. “And we’re actively flirting with more,” he added.

“I believe there are thousands of developers out there working on established AAA game franchises that would hopefully love to come to a team where they can actually make an impact instead of being crushed under the cycle of the Big E3 Sequel reveal and inevitable annualization,” Bleszinski said.

The team will be limited to 15-20 people for the first year while Bleszinski and colleagues “find the fun” before ramping up production. Bleszinski hopes to max out at about 70 staff at most, outsourcing a lot of work, so that he knows everyone in the company personally.

Bluestreak is the company’s only focus right now, and Bleszinki hopes to be open and transparent during development. “It’ll be a slow burn for the first year but we promise to show you as much as humanly possible in the process,” he said.

“Build the company While we build the community While we build the game,” he added. “Got new concept art? Post it. Get playable builds out as early as possible. It’s the new era of transparent development, honestly, there’s no real reason to hide what you’re doing

“Get the community involved and have them see how the ‘sausage’ is made. Weekly podcasts. I’m actively recruiting for a community manager as we speak. Community is everything.”

Why Nexon America?

One perplexed gamer asked why Bleszinski didn’t turn to crowdfunding instead of publisher support. The reason for not taking this route is likely quite complicated, as Kickstarter’s simply don’t raise enough money for triple-A development of this scope, and are generally used to prove demand and thereby attract outside investor interest to a triple-A project. But Bleszinki had a more simple reply:

“It’s hard to do a Kickstarter when you regularly tweet photos of your Lamborghinis,” he said.

“We’re considering some early buy in ‘founder’ stuff, somewhat similar to Star Citizen. Kickstarters are just as much about instant built in community and free PR as they are about raising money.”

Bluestreak is being funded by Nexon America, and Bleszinski’s account of why he chose this publisher is worth reading.

“After I left Epic I felt like the belle of the ball, everyone wanted to meet with me,” he said.

“They all had glowing things to say about working with Nexon. They said they just let you build the game you want to build and when the time comes to see if you can monetize they’ll help. When your developer friends vouch for a publishing partner like that, you trust them.”

“After stalling as long as I could (and knowing I’d want to come back eventually) I met with nearly all of the old guard. Even Zynga. (Mark Pincus came into my meeting 45 minutes late.)

“Knowing developers who’ve worked with the traditional publishers I’d take them out, feed them a beer, and they’d do the ‘look around to see if anyone’s going to hear this’ look and tell me ‘Run away. These guys aren’t the best to work with, and they’ll try to design your game and just get involved where they shouldn’t be.’

“With nearly EVERY one of the established big publishers I heard this from MANY developers. And no, I can’t name names.”

Bleszinski said he laughed when Nexon America showed interest, calling the company “the fucking Maple Story guys”.

“And then I met Min Kim, president of Nexon US. And then Owen Mahoney, who runs all of Nexon. And I saw the direction they were going – Brian Reynold’s new game, Robotaki’s one, Splash Damage etc… and I spoke with all of these western devs who are working with them,” he said.

“They all had glowing things to say about working with Nexon. They said they just let you build the game you want to build and when the time comes to see if you can monetize they’ll help. When your developer friends vouch for a publishing partner like that, you trust them.”

There’s probably loads more worth squirrelling out of the AMA if you want to head over and read it in full. Boss Key released the Bluestreak concept art above following the AMA.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/10/bluestreak-cliff-bleszinski-boss-key-productions-ama/feed/4In just four days, we’ll see the new game from Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinskihttp://www.vg247.com/2014/07/04/gear-of-war-cliff-bleszinski-new-game-reveal-scheduled/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/04/gear-of-war-cliff-bleszinski-new-game-reveal-scheduled/#commentsFri, 04 Jul 2014 00:43:25 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=481539Cliff Bleszinski’s new game will be revealed to the world in just a few days.

We also don’t know whether Bleszinski has joined an existing team, taken publisher funding or founded his own indie crew. However, Internet Sleuth Superannuation did find that Bleszinski incorporated a company called Boss Key Productions a few months ago, which is interesting.

The company seems to have a website, although apart from promising an imminent reveal it hosts only a logo and a recruiting email address.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/04/gear-of-war-cliff-bleszinski-new-game-reveal-scheduled/feed/9Bleszinski seeking funding for next game, expects to share news soonhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/02/04/bleszinski-seeking-funding-for-next-game-expects-to-share-news-soon/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/04/bleszinski-seeking-funding-for-next-game-expects-to-share-news-soon/#commentsTue, 04 Feb 2014 01:04:54 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=445584Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski may have news to share regarding his new project within six weeks.

In a video interview with Gamerhub transcribed by Gamespot, Bleszinski said he’s seeking funding for the project.

“Right now I’m looking at procuring funding for that; expect some news hopefully in the next four to six weeks,” he said.

This initial funding will come from a private investor or venture capitalist firm, but Bleszinski hopes to crowdfund the game, with the seed money as insurance against failure.

“I would like to go directly to the consumer if possible, although with the safety net of providing outside financing. I think Kickstarter is a beautiful, romantic thing. I think that for every success story there’s ten failures, sadly, on Kickstarter,” he said.

Gamespot noted that the actual success rate of gaming Kickstarters about 35%, which is rather more optimistic than the 9% suggested by Bleszinski.

By going “directly to the consumer”, as he said, Bleszinski, he hopes to emulate games like DayZ, which bring gamers into development.

“I think it’s possible with the success of DayZ, to have the concept of pay-for-alpha or pay-for-early-access, and help the community forge and shape your game. Build the company while you build the game while you build the community, at the same time,” he said.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/04/bleszinski-seeking-funding-for-next-game-expects-to-share-news-soon/feed/2Gears of War creator keen on arena shooter for PChttp://www.vg247.com/2013/12/11/gears-of-war-creator-keen-on-arena-shooter-for-pc/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/11/gears-of-war-creator-keen-on-arena-shooter-for-pc/#commentsWed, 11 Dec 2013 23:06:40 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=434398Cliff Bleszinski is cooking up ideas for a first-person arena shooter on PC.

“I have a slide deck, I have a pitch, I have concept art, I know pretty much what I want to do,” the Gears of War creator said on the Pointless podcast, as reported by Polygon.

“It will be a PC experience that will hearken back to a certain type of game that we cut our teeth on, if you know what I’m saying.”

What kind of experience is that, you may ask? A first-person shooter unlike the most popular ones on the market today.

“A lot of these kids playing Call of Duty, I don’t think they know what a proper arena shooter is,” Bleszinski added.

“I don’t want to work with the old guard, per se. I’ll talk to them, have meetings. But the last thing I need is some mid-level marketing guy telling me that ‘well, traditionally, this doesn’t sell well, so we’re concerned,’ and all that. Because they’re all rearward-looking, and it just drives me fucking batshit,” he said.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/11/gears-of-war-creator-keen-on-arena-shooter-for-pc/feed/13Bleszinski posts new teaser image for upcoming IPhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/09/02/bleszinski-posts-new-teaser-image-for-upcoming-ip/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/02/bleszinski-posts-new-teaser-image-for-upcoming-ip/#commentsMon, 02 Sep 2013 01:11:54 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=404007Cliff Bleszinski has released another image of his work-in-progress, this time showing what looks like an adult and child walking along a canal bordering a futuristic city.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/02/bleszinski-posts-new-teaser-image-for-upcoming-ip/feed/6Cliff Bleszinski posts another image of new projecthttp://www.vg247.com/2013/08/19/cliff-bleszinski-posts-another-image-of-new-project/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/19/cliff-bleszinski-posts-another-image-of-new-project/#commentsMon, 19 Aug 2013 08:02:25 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=399345The tease continues, as Cliff Bleszinski has posted more concept art for his mysterious next project.

The artwork shows a cityscape being largely obliterated by an enormous lightning storm. True to previous form, it contains few clues as to the nature of the new project. Check it out for yourself:

This image matches thematically rather well with the first teaser image released a couple of weeks ago, which showed an armed figure walking through a flooded canyon. The second image, of a sport involving giants and jetpacks, still makes no sense at all. You can view those images here.

EDIT: psxman has made the suggestion that this new image is taken from behind the famous Hollywood sign. What we can see is the top of the ‘Y’ and ‘W.’

Intrigued?

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/19/cliff-bleszinski-posts-another-image-of-new-project/feed/7Cliff Bleszinski confirms recent images are for new IP, see them herehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/08/16/gears-of-war-creator-confirms-images-pertain-to-new-ip/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/16/gears-of-war-creator-confirms-images-pertain-to-new-ip/#commentsFri, 16 Aug 2013 05:53:29 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=398891Cliff Bleszinski has released a couple of pieces of concept art showing off a new property he’s working up, possibly the enigmatic Silverstreak.

The two images are quite different; the first shows an armed figure in a flooded canyon, while another seems to show a sport of some kind, played by giants with jetpacks. Bleszinski told Polygon that both images are from the same universe – a new IP he’s working on.

The images, which have been “closely cropped” to give just a “sneak peek” at the new universe, were created by Shaddy Safadi, a concept artist whose past credits include The Last of Us. Check out both images in full below; just click to see them full size.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/16/gears-of-war-creator-confirms-images-pertain-to-new-ip/feed/5Cliff Bleszinski “gestating slowly” on new IP codenamed Silverstreakhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/12/13/cliff-bleszinski-gestating-slowly-on-new-ip-codenamed-silverstreak/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/12/13/cliff-bleszinski-gestating-slowly-on-new-ip-codenamed-silverstreak/#commentsThu, 13 Dec 2012 15:23:02 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=324547Cliff Bleszinski has told Xplay he’s currently “gestating” a new IP which he has codenamed Silverstreak.

“My first Transformer was Bluestreak – which was later changed to Silverstreak or something like that – which is the codename of the new IP I’m gestating on slowly,” he said via StickSkills.

“I don’t want the chainsaw gun to be my legacy. Whenever someone puts together a ‘Top 50 Weapons in Video Games’ there’s like the Halo sword, the Lancer, like it’s there with everything else, like Doom BFG and that’s really flattering, but a lot of these kids who have only been playing games for the last however many years, they think that’s the only thing I ever did.

“They forget about Jazz Jackrabbit, Unreal Tournament that I worked on, things like Bulletstorm, a little bit on Shadow Complex and things like that. Moving forward I would like to work on something new and fresh and kinda redefine my legacy.”